when the second world war broke out in 1939 it began a period of immense upheaval and change with a heavy price tag [Music] in a world stunned by this Holocaust Britain moved decisively and with finality she declares war on Germany in an hour Australia also ruled the law stated it is my melancholy duty to inform you lasting six years and costing the lives of up to 85 million people this year marks the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War [Music] a watershed in Australian history the nation's mobilization for total war was unprecedented
to date it has never been equaled and you fall about it immediate safety was traded by the monster services [Music] there was never any doubt that Australia would play an active role in the conflict for a nation whose people were then overwhelmingly British descent and whose country's defense and economy were intertwined with the British Empire Australia was always going to be in the fight [Music] with only a small pre-war militia of mainly part-time citizen soldiers a new Expeditionary Force had to be raised across land sea and air to join the fight for king and country
the army would enlist seven hundred and twenty six thousand men and women mobilized in some 5,800 separate units the Royal Australian Navy would expand from just thirteen warships to 150 vessels and 200 dogs Hillary crafts by war's end I tell you that the need of the are is desperate without the help of the young men of Australia we cannot win this war and with around 3,300 officers and men at the start of the war by 1945 the Royal Australian Air Force would grow to become one of the largest air forces in the world [Music] all
in all close to a million Australians both men and women would serve other them overseas [Music] it was in the skies above Europe and the deserts of North Africa that Australia's skill bravery and endurance came to be known in legendary battles like Tobruk and El Alamein one period of 52 days the Luftwaffe made over 1400 sorties against us we dug ourselves out and then dug ourselves in again before long got quite used to it but then came Japan's entry into the war on the 7th of December 1941 its rapid advance through Southeast Asia and across
the Pacific would come to define Australia's war we've made the plane we've made the engine we've got the men to fly them we shall answer strength with strength overnight it went from a faraway conflict to one now waged on Australia's doorstep when Singapore fell on the 15th of February 150,000 Allied troops including two-thirds of an Australian division were taken prisoner [Music] now nothing stood between the Japanese forces and mainland Australia four days later Darwin was bombed for the first time Australian Prime Minister John Curtin described early 1942 as the gravest hour in our history but
it was just the beginning it was on the Burma Thailand railway and the sandakan death marches that Australian soldiers came to learn the true meaning of suffering and sacrifice all up the mainland was bombed nearly 100 times during the war northern Australia bore the brunt of this assault but fear and panic spread when Japanese submarines began shelling Sydney and Newcastle merchant ships were sunk up and down the East Coast and a passenger ferry was torpedoed in Sydney Harbour in those days Australia was a land of vast resources untouched and unknown she was a mighty giant
asleep the government mobilized its population economy and industry for total war enacting a series of unprecedented restrictions and controls over the daily lives of Australians rationing became an ever-present reminder of what everyone simply called the war it was also a time of great social change almost seventy thousand women served in the forces and in non-combat roles with thousands more joining the production effort in factories Indigenous Australians serving in uniform likewise began to experience a greater level of equality with at least 5,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people serving directly in the military and thousands more
working in ancillary roles supporting the war effort in northern Australia as the war dragged on the mammoth effort began to pay off [Music] America Australia and New Zealanders are fighting together prepare and be- and remotely during 1943 and early 1944 Australian and American forces launched a major offensive against the Japanese in New Guinea it was the largest military offensive ever conducted by Australian forces [Music] in Europe following the storming of Normandy by the Allies in 1944 German forces surrendered on the 8th of May 1945 of regret the day is big prayer in your day a
few months later Japan surrendered on the 15th of August in the presence of the commander-in-chief of the Australian Army the chief of staff of the Australian forces and high ranking officer of the Allied forces rejoicing broke out spontaneously all across Australia with wild scenes of celebration Australia suffered heavy losses in the Second World War but it also emerged confident and with an independent outlook we now enjoyed a more sophisticated relationship with Britain and found in the United States a new and powerful ally while the influx of post-war migration from Britain and war-torn Europe forever diversified
Australia's population and society and while the women who had worked in the factories were now expected to return to their homes to become wives and mothers again they fostered in their daughters the spirit of Independence and equality that helped drive the women's movements of the 1960s there are four words carved on Stone Flint's at the end of the Kokoda trail courage endurance mainship and sacrifice these words perfectly sum up all those Australians who fought overseas and on our doorstep and who supported the war effort on the home front [Music] most of these men and women
are no longer with us but 75 years on from the end of that conflict their sacrifice and achievements have had a lasting significance giving us the prosperity that too often we take for granted more than any other conflict it was the Second World War that shaped modern Australia [Music] [Music] you
